CFP: The Star and Celebrity Confessional (2/1/07; journal issue)

Social Semiotics (http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10350330.asp) issoliciting papers for a special themed issue on the star and celebrityconfessional. The confessional, taken to be any moment in which a star,celebrity, or fan engages in revelatory acts, has become one of the dominantways in which fame is circulated and consumed.

The celebrity confessional involves Œthe combination of reflexivity aboutthe business of being a celebrity, emotional interiority and selfcriticism¹: and it is where the fan is Œinvited to feel with their feelings¹(Littler, 2004: 13/18). Through the confessional text (played out in thebiopic, documentary, talk-show interview, self-reflexive song lyric, starblog, and celebrity magazine interview), the celebrity seemingly attempts tospeak openly and honestly about where they have come from. Such aconfession(s) would include their humble beginnings; the troubles, hardshipsand corruption they may have faced along their journey to fame; who theyreally are underneath the fame gown; and how alike they are to the everydaypeople who watch their films, buy their records, go to their concerts, andwatch their soccer or tennis matches. Similarly, the fan/consumer whoconfesses their desire for, and identification with, the star or celebrity,on line, in diaries, reveal a para-social relationship that is in partdevotional, obsessional, but also potentially intimate and fully lived. Itis one of the mechanisms Œthrough which relationships, identity, and socialand cultural norms are debated, evaluated, modified and shared¹ (Turner,2004:24).

In this Special Edition of the journal Social Semiotics, the differentmanifestations, meanings, and processes of the star and celebrityconfessional will be explored. Potential themes/texts/contexts/case studiescould include:

The confessional interviewThe confessional songAuthenticity and artifice as modes of confessional expressionConfession as mythThe race/sex/sexuality/class of the confessionConfession as intimacyFan confessionalsConfession as transgression and empowermentConfession as a form of group belongingReligious deification and the confessionConfession as therapyThe commodity confessional textThe confessional star or celebrityConfession as damageConfession as obsessionThe confessional talk of fame

Social Semiotics is committed to inter and cross-disciplinary approachesthat are politically and historically engaged, and on publishing papers thatreveal something profound about the nature of everyday life.

Sean RedmondSean.redmond_at_vuw.ac.nzSenior Lecturer in Film Studies,Victoria University of Wellington,Wellington,New Zealand

Deadline for abstract submission: February 1st 2007

If your abstract is chosen for final consideration, you will have untilOctober 31st (2007) to complete the first draft. Completed Essays submittedby the February deadline will have a similar period of time for anyre-drafting that needs to be done.